On the west side of the house, where the view opened up, was a stretch of lawn.
When Chen Yu and his group arrived, Ronaldo, dressed in a white tracksuit, was playing golf.
Under a nearby porch, Ronaldo’s wife, Milanee Domingos, was playing with their first son, Ronald. When she saw Blanchini, she imdiately stood up to greet him.
Ronaldo didn’t turn around, holding his swing pose. Then he said, "Giovanni, how was that shot?"
Blanchini obligingly applauded. "Very good."
Chen Yu silently rolled his eyes.
’Good, my ass. Who knows where that even went.’
Ronaldo let out a laugh and finally turned around. After seeing Chen Yu and sizing him up, he walked over and pulled him into a hug without a word.
’He’s nowhere near as big as the two-ter giant Ewing, but his arms are still pretty strong.’
"Giovanni, this must be the Arican doctor you told about. Sorry to make you fly all the way to France to see . I actually wanted to go to the United States, but they wouldn’t let ," Ronaldo said cheerfully.
As he said this, he shot a subtle glance at Blanchini.
"It’s no problem." Sincere or not, those words made Chen Yu, who had been through a long and tiring journey, feel a lot better.
Milanee put the child in his stroller, invited everyone to sit down, and asked Chen Yu what he’d like to drink before going to prepare it.
Chen Yu took a longer look at her. ’I think this Milanee is a soccer player, too.’
’She’s blonde, beautiful, and has a great figure.’
’Seems like this is Ronaldo’s type.’
"Chen, weren’t you just with that guy... what was his na?" he asked, looking at Blanchini.
Blanchini said, "Penny Hardaway. He’s a top NBA star, hailed as the next Jordan."
Ronaldo nodded. "Right, that’s him. Chen, did you just perform ligant repair surgery for him?"
Chen Yu nodded. "That’s right. He tore his ACL for the second ti, tore his niscus, and had so cartilage removed. I perford a ligant repair and cartilage reconstruction for him."
Ronaldo grimaced. ’Damn, that sounds like a brutal injury.’
Pierre chid in, "Were those surgeries perford separately? How would the rehabilitation work in that case?"
’Cartilage reconstruction requires one or two months of being bedridden and immobile, followed by a long recovery period. How could you then go back in for an ACL internal fixation?’
Chen Yu said, "They weren’t done separately. It was all one surgery."
Pierre pushed up his glasses, gave Chen Yu another look, and then silently held up a thumb. "Impressive."
’He could already imagine how complex that operation must have been.’
Blanchini said, "Ronnie, that’s why Chen is such an outstanding doctor. He has a huge reputation in the Arican sports world. He also healed another ’next Jordan,’ Grant Hill, who’s another amazing basketball star."
Ronaldo nodded repeatedly, then suddenly asked, "Chen, so do you know Jordan?"
Chen Yu paused, then asked in return, "Why? Do you know Michael?"
Ronaldo quickly shook his head. "I don’t know him, but I’d really love to. He’s one of the greatest athletes in the world. Zidane really admires him. He told the dia that he’s not worthy of being compared to Jordan—that only Mr. Maradona could be ntioned in the sa breath."
"And Mr. Maradona has always admired Jordan, too. He said his dream was to et Jordan and give him a hug, but unfortunately, the two of them have never t. Part of the reason I wanted to go to the United States this ti was in the hopes of eting him, but sadly, he’s not playing anymore."
As he said all this, Ronaldo’s own eyes were gleaming.
Chen Yu was inwardly amazed. ’Does that old rogue really have so many fans?’
’Of course, Chen Yu knew Jordan’s influence in the sports world was massive, but isn’t Maradona the King of Soccer? Their statuses should be pretty similar, shouldn’t they?’
After a mont’s thought, Chen Yu said, "So you like Michael. You know, I ca in such a hurry I didn’t prepare a gift. Here, let give you sothing."
As he spoke, Chen Yu pulled a water bottle from his shoulder bag.
He had gotten Jordan to sign it back when he was in New York. He’d ant to give it to Lexi, but he’d been too busy, never got around to it, and forgot all about it.
One ti, Chen Yu had just gone ahead and used it, figuring Lexi wouldn’t mind. He’d been using it ever since and had just tossed it in his bag before this trip.
"It’s a water bottle he personally autographed. I’ve used it a few tis, so don’t drink from it, but you can keep it as a nto."
’I bought it at the Nicks gift shop. It was just a souvenir water bottle with their logo, but the quality was decent enough to be a gift.’
’The only issue is that it’s used, but Ronaldo just wants the autograph, so it shouldn’t matter.’
’As for Lexi, I’ll just get Jordan to sign sothing else the next ti I see him.’
Ronaldo’s eyes lit up as he eagerly took it. "To my dear Lexi... Chen, is this your girlfriend?"
Chen Yu nodded. "My girlfriend is sothing of a Jordan fan, yes."
"But what do I do? I want it so bad," Ronaldo said, holding the water bottle with a conflicted look on his face.
Chen Yu said, "It’s fine, you keep it."
Ronaldo nodded eagerly, tucking it away with a grin. "Chen, this is the best gift ever."
After that, he couldn’t resist asking, "Chen, did Jordan really make a thirty-million-dollar annual salary?"
Right now, Serie A was the best league in the world, but its highest-paid player, Zidane, only earned an annual salary of 4 million US dollars.
Ronaldo himself was only making 3 million US dollars.
Of course, this was just their salary—but the thirty million was just Jordan’s salary, too.
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