Chapter 110
Chapter 110
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 110
Chapter Title: Must Grow (10)
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Bolton District Mayor Cliff Baxter fidgeted restlessly on the guest sofa.
"That's right! Yeah! Exactly!"
His eyes were glued to the TV screen in front of him.
The screen showed a live broadcast of Bolton versus relegation-threatened Burton in Round 27.
[Oh! Quick Floyd!]
[Left foot out in front to shake off one...! Changes direction again to lose another two...!]
[Whoa! Right after the Cruyff turn...!]
Thwack-!
Baxter jumped to his feet at Floyd's surprise turning shot.
Ting-!
[The ball hits the crossbar and ricochets-!]
"Aghhh...!"
He let out a sigh of regret the moment it deflected.
But not even a second later, Baxter clenched both fists tight again.
Because Adebayor, subbed on in the second half, had met the deflected ball with a standing header from behind the left post.
Thwang-!
Clang-!
[Goooaaal-! Emmanuel Adebayor-! Three games in a row with a goal-!]
[The keeper couldn't even react as he smashed it into the opposite post-!]
"Yesssss-!"
Just five minutes after coming on as a sub, Baxter threw his arms wide open in celebration.
Beep, beep, beeeep-!
When the referee blew the final whistle, the score was 3-0.
Early in the first half, young star Pak's penetration goal, Shearer Kane's powerful in-swinging kick, and finally Adebayor's finisher had melted Burton.
"Heh. Life feels worth living."
Baxter huffed short, ragged breaths as if he'd been running with the players on screen.
He immediately checked the standings on his phone.
"Still third place."
Hull City and Plymouth Argyle were just too strong.
Even so, the smile on his face wouldn't fade.
"Bolton, who was fretting over relegation, now in the title race...!"
Just two years ago, Baxter had no real affection for Bolton.
The reason was obvious.
The more seasons they played, the deeper into the mire Bolton sank.
In fact, Baxter had cheered more for Blackroad FC in the fifth tier than for Bolton.
But not anymore.
"Club owner Ma has truly revived the team."
At first, he'd viewed him through colored glasses because he was the previous owner's grandson.
'Spending money like water, that old fool.'
But over the past year, what Ma had done for the club's growth was nothing short of astonishing.
Hadn't he even come with that glamping business idea back then?
"It's definitely different."
It was one way to develop Bolton District as a tourist spot.
Above all, foot traffic in Bolton had noticeably increased since the glamping site opened.
Tourism revenue had surged as well.
To Baxter, the current Ma was someone he cherished like the apple of his eye.
His own approval ratings had risen because of it.
'Next year's election looks promising, heh.'
Then, suddenly, Baxter glanced down at the table.
"Hmm."
His eyes landed on a black binder.
The day before, Ma had stopped by briefly.
And handed him an unexpected proposal.
Baxter murmured as he looked at the words on the binder.
"Amusement facility business, huh..."
* * *
Click, click, click.
After submitting documents to Executive Director Richard Geers, Charlotte Emma walked down the hallway.
Her throat was parched; she considered grabbing a simple drink from the cafeteria.
But her steps halted right at the entrance.
"Did you hear?"
"Hear what?"
Near the entrance, at a table.
Two familiar female staff members sat facing each other, chatting.
They whispered while gesturing with their hands, but Emma could hear every word clearly.
"They just bulldozed the land right next to the glamping site."
"Oh yeah! When I came in yesterday, I saw excavators tearing it up. What's that about?"
"Rumor has it... our club owner's moneybags are fuller than ever."
Emma's eyebrow twitched reflexively.
Unaware of her presence nearby, the staff kept talking.
"Our club owner was always obsessed with money. More than the previous owner, if anything. You can tell just from how he's been eating at his desk in the owner's office for over a year."
"But this one's on another level."
"What is it?"
"Apparently, he's ripping up the land to make a ton of cash off kids."
Most front-office staff now supported Jeong-woo and even liked him personally.
But a tiny few did not.
In fact, over the year, their bias had only deepened.
And those were mostly people who'd been thoroughly chewed out by Jeong-woo at work at some point.
Emma narrowed her eyes.
'Player cafeteria supplies staff... Cindy Clara.'
Sure enough, it was the staff member who'd been scolded by Jeong-woo about a week ago.
'No, Cindy.'
'Yes, yes?'
'Why is this tartar sauce with only a week left on the expiration date here? I told you to use stuff with at least two months left first.'
'Oh, um, that was...'
'Huh? What's this? The ones in the back have only three days left? So you took out the ones with plenty of time left first? Right? Even FIFO isn't being followed properly...'
Right after, Cindy Clara had endured a 30-minute earful.
'Is that how it is?'
Emma stared down at Cindy Clara from a few steps behind.
Her turquoise eyes had now gone ice cold.
Oblivious, Cindy Clara kept flapping her tongue excitedly.
"He's building an amusement park."
"An amusement park?"
"Yeah! Building an amusement park, charging entry tickets, and letting kids use it!"
"Isn't that a good th...!"
"Good? It's obviously all about the money. Look, he didn't sign even one player in this winter window, right? Where do you think all those savings are going?"
Cindy unleashed words like a machine gun, venting pent-up stress.
"He's pocketing it all. Sure, his reputation's good lately... but honestly, I don't get it. Isn't it obvious? Grabbing all the profits and bailing...!"
But Cindy couldn't finish.
"What's wrong?"
Her colleague across from her had suddenly looked up with a panicked face.
Wondering, Cindy started to turn around.
"What's the...!"
And she couldn't finish that either.
"St-Strategy Planning Team Leader...?"
Charlotte Emma had approached silently from behind and was glaring down with razor-sharp eyes.
Her lips formed a straight line before slowly parting.
"The club owner has bet everything on the club, unlike what you think. I've told you that several times before."
Cindy Clara could only gape in bewilderment.
Moreover, Emma had never glared at her this fiercely before.
Just meeting those turquoise eyes made her feel like her whole body was freezing solid.
Emma added softly.
"The amusement facility business is purely for the kids. I saw it with my own eyes. The club owner agonizing over children who only play on grass fields."
There was no warning.
"If you spread such nonsense one more time... I'll tattle."
"..."
"You know, right? The club owner hates backbiting more than anything."
* * *
Thud, thud, thud-!
Seated in his executive chair, Jeong-woo slapped his heavy arms alternately.
"I'm dying."
A deflated voice leaked from his mouth.
Park Hee-won, lounging on the guest sofa and playing a mobile game for the first time in a while, chuckled and asked.
"What? You gave them airplane rides again yesterday?"
Hee-won knew.
A few times a week, Jeong-woo turned into a playground ride for the kids.
Creak-!
Jeong-woo opened a desk drawer, popped a fatigue-relief pill, and grabbed the glass of water beside it.
Gulp, gulp, gulp!
"Kaaah!"
After a few swallows, he nodded sleepily.
"It's not just airplanes. They climb on me even if I sit still. That moment... it's like I've become a tree or something?"
It was fine at first, but the accumulation was wearing him down physically.
Hee-won looked surprised at Jeong-woo.
"You, who never tires even training with the players."
"That's different from this. Regular fitness training drains you slowly, but playing with kids... well..."
Honestly, it felt like his stamina was dropping in chunks even standing still.
And so, anxious about collapsing before achieving his goals, Jeong-woo came up with an idea.
That idea was the amusement facility business.
Suddenly, hope sparkled in Jeong-woo's eyes.
"Once that's done... Cyrus and the kids will head there instead of me, heh heh."
He even craved some alone time now.
It hit him anew.
Dads and moms are truly great.
'I was gonna have three kids originally...'
Jeong-woo quickly shook his head side to side.
Such a childish thought.
He'd already gotten approval from the district mayor and relevant officials.
They'd bulldozed the land right next to the glamping site to build a comprehensive amusement facility.
Of course, it wasn't just because dealing with kids was tough.
"Honestly, kids that age should be playing like crazy."
"True."
Hee-won nodded habitually, eyes on his game screen.
Leaning back comfortably in his chair, Jeong-woo added.
"Think about when we were kids. Cloud ladders, seesaws, mazes, carousels in the playground... endless fun. If bored, play soccer on the field."
"Mm, yeah. Then you'd wipe out and skin your knees."
Nowadays, those rides were called killer contraptions among young people.
The issue was their poor safety compared to modern standards.
And Jeong-woo wanted to build play facilities in Bolton.
"First off, Horichi didn't have much for kids to play with."
That was the second reason.
Suddenly, lost in old memories, Jeong-woo chuckled and muttered.
"You, Hee-won, fell straight down slipping in the monkey maze like a monkey yourself, folded up like origami, bawling your eyes out. Feels like yesterday."
At that, Hee-won made an indignant face, as if recalling the event from decades ago.
"Right? And when I begged to be pulled out, you just laughed your ass off!"
"It was hilarious."
Of course, he had no plans to install those in Bolton's amusement park.
They'd prioritize safety and build fun facilities kids would love.
Including soccer and basketball courts.
Even tennis courts for adults were in the plans.
"Heh heh."
Suddenly, Jeong-woo grinned slyly, envisioning the future.
Beyond those two reasons, there was a third.
The most human one...!
'It's money, after all.'
This, too, was tourism business.
Especially since adults could never beat their kids in the end.