From Arsenal to the Ball God

”Yes!”

”Ma’el!”

”Click, click!”

The fireworks here quickly drew the attention of the surrounding fans. They waved at Ma’el from afar and took out their phones to take pictures.

Ma’el turned around to greet them and then led everyone into the honor exhibition.

The first thing you see is the Golden Boy Award and the Championship League trophy, as well as the Puskás Award in the center. These were replicas he had commissioned, indistinguishable from the originals.

On both sides are a series of awards such as Championship Best Scorer, Best Player, and Premier League Monthly Best, which are also replicas.

There are also 2 match balls from Championship hat-tricks, a commemorative ball from a Boxing Day battle, and 2 Premier League hat-trick balls, along with 1 from an English League Cup final hat-trick.

These are not replicas. They still have grass stains and various signs of use, along with the signatures of three referees and the dates and opponent information Ma’el wrote himself.

Ma’el looked at these with satisfaction and turned to ask Davis, ”Have you contacted for the English League Cup trophy? When approximately will it be ready and delivered?”

”About a week,” Davis estimated a time, explaining, ”If we aim for quality replica, some parts still need to be handmade.”

Ma’el nodded, thought of something, and joked with him, ”Shall we make the Premier League champion trophy too? So we can put it up here as soon as we win it at the end of the season.”

”Haha...” Davis chuckled, ”What if we don’t win it?”

”No way,” Ma’el raised an eyebrow at him, meaning that this trophy was practically guaranteed.

”Alright...” Davis was about to agree when Jose interrupted from the side, ”Better not. There’s a saying in football that you shouldn’t touch a trophy you haven’t won; it always causes trouble.”

Seeing everyone looking at him, Jose laughed, ”Don’t doubt it, it’s true, even worse than popping champagne at halftime.

”Many top players who lost championships believe it was because they or their teammates touched the trophy prematurely.”

”Haha...” Everyone on the scene laughed; it was indeed a rather interesting saying.

Ma’el, after hearing this, had snippets of memories flash through his mind. It seemed there indeed was such a superstition. Though he didn’t believe in ghosts and gods, when it came to highly coveted trophies, he decided to respect this rule.

”Forget it, forget it,” he waved the idea away, ”No rush. At the end of the season, we’ll bring the Premier League trophy up here.”

He strolled around the exhibition for a while and suggested pointing at some empty spots: ”We could put some racks here to hang some jerseys I’ve swapped over the past two years.

”And here, we could make a photo wall to move over some of the family photos from home.”

His uncle and aunt followed him closely, constantly nodding and taking notes. His aunt even pulled out her phone. They clearly valued Ma’el’s opinions greatly.

”And then...”

After a round, Ma’el stopped at the entrance and said with a smile, ”Seems that’s it; any additions now need my own hard work.”

”Go for it brother!” Eva, who had been by his side, immediately made a little fist when she heard this, soft and cute yet very serious, ”I believe you can do it.”

”Haha!” Her expression once again amused everyone present. Isabella took out some candy from her bag and handed it to her, lifting her up and spinning her around a couple of times.

Ma’el pinched her little cheek, ”Get comfortable here. I’ll fill this room with honors.”

”Okay!” Eva, busy with the candy, agreed and then turned to praise Isabella who had given her the candy, ”Sister is so pretty, sister is so nice.”

Isabella giggled, her eyes full of affection for Eva.

Ma’el looked thoughtfully at the two of them and then turned to say goodbye to his uncle and aunt, ”I’ll leave this place to you. I’ll come by often.”

”Don’t worry,” Clément patted his chest, ”Even if we lose Eva, nothing here will go missing.”

Eva: ”???”

”Slap!”

Aunt Betty gave him a slap on the shoulder, ”What are you saying? That’s not the right way to make an example.”

She looked at Ma’el with a wry smile, ”You know what we mean. He’s not good at expressing himself.”

”Alright, off you go, come by anytime.”

”Okay.” Ma’el waved goodbye to the two of them one last time and then prepared to leave with everyone.

”Hey!” Clément called out to him, smiling sincerely, ”Thank you, nephew. Having our family live in Central London, it’s something I’ve only seen on TV, and now it’s real.”

Ma’el smiled, saying nothing, but an inner warmth rose within him.

As he said before, giving back to his family and helping others allows him to feel truly alive in this world.

He needs this emotion, this feeling; it dispels his loneliness.

...

”Ma’el.”

After walking out of the street, Isabella held his arm and asked with an expectant smile, ”Shall we go to the London Eye today? You said when you win the championship, you’d take me for a ride.”

Ma’el saw the time was a bit late, but looking at her face, he couldn’t bear to disappoint her expectation, ”Sure.”

”Yes!” Isabella’s steps became much more cheerful as she waved goodbye to Aisha and Ma’el’s team members, ”Not inviting you guys, bye.”

”Tsk,” amidst Aisha’s disdain and Jose’s laughter, the two of them made their way to the parking lot across the street, ready to drive over.

More than ten minutes later, they arrived at the Lambeth District on the southern bank of the Thames River, already able to see the London Eye flashing red lights on the opposite bank.