De Laurentiis had not only heard about Gao Shen's brilliance, but he had experie firsthand.

  It was like when he first found Gao Shen. His initial pn was to trick the young coach, but somehow, the tables had turned, and now, he felt like the one being tricked. A year ter, he realized Gao Shen had outsmarted him pletely.

  This made De Laurentiis stay on high alert.

  Oernoon after the team disbanded, Gao Shen came to the club office for a meeting. De Laurentiis repeatedly reminded himself to remain calm and rational, no matter what Gao Shen said. He couldn't allow himself to be maniputed again.

  He even harbored pns to reverse the situation perhaps trick Gao Shen into signing a new tract that removed the 20% pyer share cuse. De Laurentiis felt that he had already lost too much money, and he o stop the bleeding fast.

  Of course, he wouldn't let Gao Shen suffer either.

  To ehis, he had even tacted the bank, preparing a loan to buy out Gao Shen's share. The team had performed exceptionally well, and the lohey waited, the more they would have to pay.

  This was something that De Laurentiis and Marino had been plotting for the past six months.

  The two had carefully thought through every possible way to vince Gao Shen and prepared for how he might react. They sidered every angle and were ready to strike with one decisive blow, him generous terms and ditions.

  After all, they still needed Gao Shen to lead the team into Serie A and beyond.

  But, as soon as Gao Sheered the feren, he pletely disrupted their pns. Without any pleasantries ard for their "script," he dropped a bomb ohat left both De Laurentiis and Marino reeling.

  "Hey, do you want to win the Serie A championship?" Gao Shen asked bluntly, his gaze fixed firmly on De Laurentiis.

  Both De Laurentiis and Mariaken aback, momentarily speechless.

  That wasn't how this versation was supposed to go.

  Weren't they supposed to stick to the script?

  Respect the swriter, man!

  But the way Gao Shen asked, with such seriousness and iy, immediately struck a chord with De Laurentiis. Serie A champion? Who wouldn't want that?

  De Laurentiis, however, wasn't easily swayed. He had been through his fair share of challenges in his career. He'd seen the most beautiful women, the biggest stars, the most famous directors, and eve with millionaires. He had seen it all.

  He wasn't going to be fooled by a few words.

  Even if Gao Shen had mao say exactly what was on his mind, he wasn't going to fall for it so easily.

  But just as De Laurentiis was about to push aside the excitement welling up inside him, Gao Shen pulled a thient out of his bag and pced it in front of them.

  "This is the strategi I've been w on for the past six months," Gao Shen expined. "It clearly ys out my thoughts and ideas for season in Serie A and why I believe we aim for the Serie A championship."

  With that, Gao Shen slid the dot across the table toward De Laurentiis and Marino.

  The two looked at each other, feeling utterly blindsided. What just happened?

  They had crafted a detailed pn, a perfect script, but now everything was falling apart.

  But, despite their initial hesitation, their curiosity got the better of them. They reached out for the dot.

  It felt like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden they khey shouldn't, but they couldn't resist the temptation.

  "Fine, let's take a look," they thought. "If it's not ving, we'll just shut it down and move on."

  However, as they began reading through the dot, their expressions quickly shifted from skepticism to astonishment.

  The dot was filled with detailed information analyzing every Serie A team for the uping season, piling intelligence reports on their potential tactics, and predig how their strengths and weaknesses might ge. But what shocked De Laurentiis and Marino the most was the se on Napoli itself.

  Gao Shen had clearly outlihe advantages and disadvantages of Napoli pared to the top teams in Serie A, including the Min giants, Roma, and Juventus. He had meticulously broken down hooli could exploit each team's weaknesses, as well as the areas where Napoli o improve.

  Everything was discussed in such precise detail.

  The word professional was the first thing that came to De Laurentiis and Marino's minds.

  In the world of professional football, they had seen tless managers, but none of them had ever presented such a prehensive pre-season assessment and strategy.

  Marino even began to wonder if Gao Shen was really just a football coach. Was he secretly aive at some major iional corporation? When had anyone in professional football ever written a pn this thh?

  Usually, when a coach applied for a job, they just spoke about their ideas in broad terms. If they even provided a written pn, that was already impressive.

  But this?

  This was unheard of.

  And the more they read, the more they began to believe that what Gao Shen had written could actually bee a reality.

  Napoli might really have what it takes to win the Serie A championship!

  That thought, oed, began to take root in their minds, like the forbidden apple in the Garden of Eden.

  Soon, De Laurentiis and Marino found themselves pletely engrossed, their imaginations running wild with possibilities.

  De Laurentiis tried to stay rational. His mind told him to hold off, to stick to the pn and recover the pyer shares, but his heart kept pulling him toward the dream of winning the Serie A title.

  For a brief moment, the old ma like he was being torn apart by his own flig desires.

  Finally, De Laurentiis took a deep breath, pushing away all the distras in his mind. He fixed his gaze on Gao Shen, who sat fidently across from him.

  "Alright, tell me," De Laurentiis said, his voice steady. "What kind of support do you need?"

  Gao Shen smiled inwardly, knowing that he had just won the first battle.

  He had never uimated De Laurentiis. The man wasn't just some greedy businessman like Martin or Calderón. De Laurentiis was sharp and ambitious a man with vision.

  That's why Gao Shen had chosen to join Napoli in the first pce.

  He khat De Laurentiis and Marino had been plotting to buy out his pyer shares, a pn Marino had hi several times. The terms they offered were generous, but Gao Shen had refused.

  Because in Gao Shen's eyes, those terms still undervalued the future.

  So, instead uing over the 20% share, Gao Shen offered them a bigger vision a shot at the Serie A championship. He told them, "Think bigger!"

  Why focus on this small slice of pie when he could lead them to the throne of Serie A champions? The value of the pyers would skyrocket, and everyone would make far more mohan they ever could by iating over his current shares.

  If that couldn't vince De Laurentiis, then Gao Shen had misjudged him.

  But now, seeing De Laurentiis ask for specifics, Gao Shen knew he had made the right call.

  "A starting right-back, a creative midfielder, and a backup winger. Also, we then the bench as much as possible because we'll be peting on two fronts season."

  Gao Shen's words were clear. He wasn't just aiming for the Serie A title, he was also going after the Coppa Italia.

  De Laurentiis raised his eyebrows in surprise, then broke into a grin.

  What an ambitious young man.

  Wherever Gao Shen had fallen, he was determio rise from there again.

  "I like this attitude," De Laurentiis said, ughing. "Acc to our previous agreement, we'll i 30 million euros over the wo seasons, and you have full discretion on how to use it. If that's not enough, let me know."

  With a wave of his hand, De Laurentiis made his decision.

  This was the kind of boldness and vision he appreciated.

  But Marino, sitting beside him, grew anxious. He tugged at De Laurentiis' sleeve, reminding him of their inal pn.

  "Boss, weren't we supposed totiate his shares? What about the buyout?"

  Why were they now giving more moo Gao Shen instead?

  Had the entire phrown out the window?

  After a few more tugs, De Laurentiis turo Marin in frustration.

  "You short-sighted fool!" his eyes seemed to say.

  "We're talking about winning the Serie A and the Coppa Italia here, and you're still worried about pocket ge?"

  "Do you even realize what winning the Serie A title means?"

  "It would be like the days of Maradona all ain! We'd be heroes in this city!"

  Marino, nearly in tears, couldn't uand how everything had flipped so quickly.

  Just moments ago, De Laurentiis had told him to stay rational, to avoid getting caught up in the heat of the moment.

  Now, it was as if he was the only oaying rational, while everyone else was chasing dreams of glory.

  For the right-back, Gao Shen had two potential didates in mind.

  One ablo Zabaleta, an Argentine pyer from Espanyol. But there were challenges with signing him Napoli already had several South Ameri pyers. When national team duty called, they'd be traveling long distances, which would be a disadvantage for Napoli.

  Moreover, having too many South Ameri pyers could cause issues in the dressing room.

  Additionally, uhe leadership of Valverde this season, Espanyol had reached the UEFA Cup final, although they lost to Sevil in the end. Zabaleta had been a key pyer for Espanyol, making it difficult to vince him to move to Napoli.

  Why would he want to leave a team peting in European petitions to join a newly promoted side like Napoli? It would require a signifit iment, and frankly, Napoli couldn't afford to spend recklessly.

  That wasn't how Gao Sheed, and it wasn't how De Laurentiis mahe club either. They weren't a financial powerhouse capable of splurging on star pyers. De Laurentiis, despite his boldness, was still very careful with the club's finances. Even Marino couldn't meddle much with the budget.

  Therefoing after a big name like Zabaleta or a simirly famous pyer like Luka Modri? or Darijo Srna would be a waste of resources.

  Napoli wasn't a club of unlimited funds, and everyone in the room k.

  De Laurentiis wasn't a fool, either. He wasn't going to let Gao Shen waste money, leaving behind a financial mess.

  The Italian businessman had always kept strict trol over the club's finances, with even Marino having little sway in these matters.

  Thus, pursuing high-profile pyers like Zabaleta, Modri?, or Srna wasn't realistic for Napoli, at least not at this stage.

  But if Napoli could indeed win the Serie A championship in the uping season, everything would ge.