Gao Shen prides himself on being a strong head coach with a strong desire for trol, so he naturally feels uneasy around powerful club owners.

  He tends to avoid bosses like Berlusi and Roman Abramovich, and De Laurentiis is no exception.

  The y is also quite famous as of 2021.

  A typical example of his style is the i with Ai, where he demahat Ai hold a closed training session as a form of punishment for the pyers, which sparked protests from both Ai and the pyers, creating quite a stir.

  Long before ing to Europe, Gao Shen had analyzed certain aspects of De Laurentiis' character based on this i.

  On the ive side, he is impulsive, 't trol his mouth, and likes to meddle in team affairs. Even with top-tier coaches like Ai, he overstepped his bounds let aloh others.

  Of course, there are two sides to everything. Looking at it positively, while De Laurentiis is forceful, he is clear about his likes and dislikes. He is dired blunt, with not mu for manoeuvre or deceit.

  When a club ets upset about losing and wants to punish the pyers, it's not unon in European football. It's also not unusual to impose closed training sessions as punishment. But what sets De Laurentiis apart is that he handles matters personally and aggressively. Some other presidents and bosses might take a more roundabout approach, applying pressure through the general manager or sp director, while keeping themselves out of the flict.

  Whether De Laurentiis is a good or bad boss depends on personal opinion.

  Gao Shen was not familiar with De Laurentiis, so he had a rather ive view of Napoli. While he agreed to meet in Europe, he did not finalise the time, only giving a rough idea of when he would return to Europe.

  In trast, he directly told Bnc the exact date of his return to Europe, and the difference was clear.

  But Gao Shen never expected De Laurentiis to be so eager that he flew directly to the ese capital.

  When Gao Shen received a call from Marino in his hometown and learhey had arrived in the capital, he was surprised but also sensed Napoli's siy. So, he packed up, ged his pns, and flew to the capital.

  ---

  In a luxury hotel in the capital, Gao She De Laurentiis and Marino for the first time.

  De Laurentiis wasn't tall. He sported a slicked-back hairstyle, white hair and beard, and had sharp, bright eyes. Despite wearing a suit, his rebellious temperament was unmistakable.

  Marino, oher hand, was a middle-aged man in his fifties, bald, and wearing short-sighted gsses. He had a gentle demeanour and a kind smile, easily leaving a favourable impression.

  When Gao Shen saw them together, he found it iing because their temperaments did not match at all.

  But that's how the professional world works.

  Often, when two people with simir temperaments colborate, flicts are more likely to arise. In trast, the bination of pletely different temperaments produce a more harmonious retionship.

  The two had arrived in the capital the day before and had a day to adjust to the time difference. Although they had been staying iel, the air quality in the capital hadn't been particurly good over the past two days. They noticed a pu smell in the air as soon as they got off the pne.

  Ironically, this became the first topic of versation after the three sat down.

  De Laurentiis repeatedly pined about the weather in the capital, which he saw as a major issue.

  Gao Shen admitted to this fact but also offered some expnations in front of the fs. He talked about the geographical location, the sequences of industrial development, and the try's ongoing efforts to address these issues.

  Uedly, De Laurentiis accepted this expnation and eveiohat a's ey had developed rapidly i years. Many of his friends in Hollywood highly valued the ese market.

  This reminded Gao Shen of another aspect of De Laurentiis: his promi role ialian film industry and his extework in Hollywood.

  Though this was their first meeting, Gao Shen sidered himself well-versed in reading people. He found De Laurentiis less disagreeable than he had imagihe man was strong-willed and rebellious, but his thoughts and as followed their own logic.

  Oable detail was that, from the moment they met, De Laurentiis did most of the talking. Marino sat beside him with a polite smile, occasionally nodding and chiming in, much like a dutiful sidekick.

  Thinking about this, Gao Shen jured a metaphor. Marino was like a sideki a edy duo, the straight man who supports the more fmboyant lead. But uhe typical edic sidekick, this "bald, little white fat man" was a seasoned professional.

  This analogy made Gao Shehem more favourably.

  Their versation gradually shifted from discussing the air quality to talking about movies, and then from movies to football.

  De Laurentiis talked about some situations in Napoli. Some of these Gao Shen already knew, but there were maails that tradicted the public rumours.

  For example, a repao Shen had read cimed that when Napoli was demoted, five pyers chose to stay. But acc to De Laurentiis, after the demotion and the ensui crisis, most pyers had lost faith. As soon as the demotion was firmed, any pyer with a optio.

  When he reahe team, only two pyers remained from the inal squad, aher was of much use on the field.

  "Without me, there would be no football club in Naples right now!" De Laurentiis decred arrogantly.

  Of course, there is more than one football club in Naples, but this is the only ohat is truly famous. This is also why Napoli's attendaes have always been high.

  They are the rgest city in southern Italy.

  From a business perspective, De Laurentiis may have had this in mind when he made his iments.

  In 2004, he restructured the team. To return to Serie B as quickly as possible, De Laurentiis ied five million euros in the first season to boost the squad, bringing in the current attag line-up.

  He spent over a million euros oall tre-forward Roberto Sosa and Brazilia-winger Piá, from Atanta's youth academy. In the text of the Italian third tier at the time, these were signifit expenditures.

  However, halfway through the season, the team did not perform well. De Laurentiis spent another 3.6 million euros t in the current top scorer Emanuele Caiò from Serie B side Pescara, but ultimately, the team failed to gain promotion to Serie B.

  After learning from st season's mistakes, the team made adjustments this season and finally mao secure promotion to Serie B.

  Also, this summer, De Laurentiis finally re-registered the inal Napoli name, and the team officially ged its name back.

  ---

  De Laurentiis's tone was full of pride. He wasn't pining but rather showg his aplishments in Napoli, demonstrating his dedication and ambition for the club.

  "When I restructured Napoli, I made two five-year pns. First, to return to Serie A within five years; sed, to make the team a formidable force against the northern trio within the five years."

  Talking about this goal, De Laurentiis was ambitious. "I ow proudly say that rogressing acc to pn. I am fident we lead Napoli to Serie A within three years."

  Gao Shen could see that the boss of Napoli was madly ambitious.

  But after hearing this, he shook his head and smiled.

  "What? Do you think there's something wrong with my goal?" De Laurentiis asked, a little displeased.

  "No, Mr. De Laurentiis, I'm just thinking that our positioning might differ somewhat," Gao Shen replied.

  "Oh?"

  "If—and I mean if—I were to coaapoli, staying in Serie B for one season would already feel too long. I don't have the patieo stay for three years, nor to spend five more years after finally reag Serie A, slowly building strength to catch up with Juventus, A, and Inter Min."

  De Laurentiis was taken aback.

  He prided himself on being audacious, but he hadn't expected Gao Shen to be even bolder.

  "Then how long would it take you if you were the head coach of Napoli?" Marino, ever the dutiful cheerleader, asked the question De Laurentiis wao ask but felt embarrassed to.

  "My goal would be to gain promotion to Serie A in the season and pete with the northern trio within two seasons. I am fident that I achieve in three years what you aim to do in the eight, although you may not achieve it," Gao Shen stated fidently.

  De Laurentiis and Marino exged gnces, visibly shocked.

  Build a team to pete with the northern giants in three years?

  "That's impossible!" De Laurentiis sneered, shaking his head.

  He felt that Gao Shen was exaggerating or even trying to bluff him.

  Such tactics are on at the iation table.

  "There is absolutely no need for me to lie to you, Mr. De Laurentiis," Gao Shen said calmly.

  Aren't you crazy? Aren't you rebellious?

  I'm crazier than you!

  More importantly, I have the credentials to back it up!

  "As for what you think is impossible, I want to remind you, Mr. De Laurentiis: When I first took over Real Madrid, everyone said I would not succeed. When I said I wao trol the dressing room, they said it was impossible. When I decred I would win the league title against Bara, they said it was impossible. And when I said I would win the Champions League, they still said it was impossible."

  At this point, Gao Shen spread his hands and asked with a hint of helplessness, "So now, do you still think it's impossible?"

  This was Gao Shen's fidence—fidence built on solid achievements. What did he have to be afraid of?

  Besides, he had more than enough reasons to back himself up.

  However, he was also not particurly ied in coag Napoli.

  So, he didn't mind provoking De Laurentiis. And when he saw the hint of anger on the Naples owner's face, he didn't bother to expin mud tinued chatting casually with them for a little while longer.

  ---

  "I didn't expect him to be sant!"

  Marino watched Gao Shen leave with surprise. He hadn't anticipated that the friendly voice he had heard over the phone would turn out to be so bold and self-assured in perso, he couldn't find any strong arguments to refute him.

  After all, Gao Shen's record spoke for itself.

  But what Marino hadn't expected was that De Laurentiis, who had been gnashing his teeth in front of Gao Shen just moments ago, would suddenly ge his demeanor and burst out ughing as soon as Gao Shen was out of sight.

  "I uimated this kid!"