AC Milan was the first to make a tactical change in the second half.
They brought on Conte to reinforce their defense on the flanks.
In the first half, Ronaldo had made several runs down the left flank, creating a major threat.
This substitution made Berlusconi frown slightly.
He felt the Turk was being far too conservative.
’We’re down 0-2 for fuck’s sake! Instead of bringing on all the forwards, he’s still thinking about reinforcing the defense.’
’What’s the plan? A defensive counter-attack?’
’The crucial thing is, with Ronaldo in this kind of form, did he really think one more defender could stop him?’
Sure enough, in the 61st minute, Ronaldo found another opening.
Saneidi launched a long ball from the back, and Karon and Ronaldo charged forward in tandem.
Karon was incredibly fast, like a black bolt of lightning. He used his pace to charge all the way to the edge of the box, and after being tightly marked, he laid the ball off to Ronaldo.
Since Karon had drawn the defenders’ attention, only Maldini—the man who had brought him down in the first half—stood before Ronaldo.
Already on a yellow card, Maldini didn’t dare make a reckless challenge.
He wanted to just slow him down; if he could just hold Ronaldo up for a moment, the rest of the defense tracking back could snuff out any chance of an attack.
But Ronaldo had no intention of stopping. With a powerful touch, he accelerated again, using his strong frame to simply muscle past Maldini.
He was through on goal!
In the stands, countless Inter fans were already on their feet.
In the private box, Chen Yu had also instinctively risen to his feet.
Abbiati, having already been beaten twice, clearly didn’t want to let Ronaldo complete his hat trick. After a split-second of hesitation, he chose to rush out.
With the keeper charging at him and defenders closing in from behind, all while dribbling at high speed, the angle for a shot was rapidly shrinking.
But Ronaldo somehow still managed to change direction. He flicked the ball with his left foot to create space, then calmly slotted it with his right. The ball once again rolled just past the tip of Abbiati’s boot and into the far corner of the net.
"GOAL!"
The Inter fans in the stadium went absolutely wild.
In stark contrast, the AC Milan section looked like a funeral procession.
In the box, the old man held his head in his hands, his face full of disbelief.
After recovering from an injury for over a year, Moratti would have understood even if Ronaldo had put in a disastrous performance. But he never dreamed that Ronaldo would be able to score a hat trick.
Ronaldo coolly ran to the sideline, roaring with excitement at the Inter fans.
Then he turned and lifted his jersey again.
His teammates, Saneidi included, joined in the celebration, forming two lines on either side of him and kneeling on one knee, all pointing at Ronaldo in the center.
Ronaldo, holding his jersey up, strode past them proudly, like a king making his triumphant return.
Chen Yu silently covered his face. ’I can’t bear to watch this.’
And yet, he had to accept Moratti’s gratitude and force a smile.
For the first time, Chen Yu felt insecure about his own looks. ’How did they manage to find such a terribly angled photo of all things?’
Beside him, Berlusconi could no longer control his expression. His face darkened as he sulked for a moment, then he turned to Chen Yu and asked if Redondo could return on schedule next month.
If the highly anticipated Redondo had been playing, with the help of a world-class defensive midfielder, would AC Milan’s defense have had so many consecutive problems?
And then there was Trimm.
Even though he wasn’t very involved in the team’s operations anymore, right now, Berlusconi had only one thought in his head: get that bastard fired, now!
A 0-3 crushing defeat in the derby, letting Ronaldo score a hat trick... Inter’s fans would be mocking them for a decade.
But Berlusconi never dreamed that today wouldn’t just be a crushing defeat, but a complete massacre.
At the 78-minute mark, alarm bells were ringing for AC Milan’s defense once again.
As the Inter players circulated the ball at the edge of the box, searching for an opening, Ronaldo rushed forward to receive a pass. He executed an elastico, nutmegging the freshly subbed-on Conte. Ronaldo accelerated to catch up to the ball and unleashed a snap shot.
The ball shot through a forest of legs. By the time Abbiati saw it, it was too late to react. He made a desperate dive, only to watch the ball roll into the net.
A super hat trick!
The entire San Siro Stadium was stunned into silence for a moment; even the Inter fans hadn’t expected a goal to come so suddenly.
In the stands, many AC Milan fans simply looked dazed.
Some were even weeping in anguish, their faces buried in their hands.
In the private box, Chen Yu silently covered his face. ’Damn it, here it comes again.’
Sure enough, with one hand raised high, Ronaldo was mobbed by his cheering teammates. With his other hand, he relentlessly lifted his jersey again to reveal the picture of Chen Yu.
Moratti stopped celebrating.
A 3-0 score is a great victory; 4-0 is a massacre.
He was afraid that if he kept celebrating, Berlusconi would call in his bodyguards and things would turn ugly.
The match continued.
Ronaldo himself clearly hadn’t expected to be in such good form; he was still trying to find another chance to score.
However, AC Milan was no longer thinking about scoring. They were focused on just one thing: not letting Inter score again, no matter what.
Or, to be more precise, anyone else could score, but not Ronaldo.
If Ronaldo scored a fifth goal today, the furious AC Milan fans would be throwing rotten eggs at them tomorrow!
When the final whistle blew, the final score of the city derby was locked in at 4-0.
The entire San Siro Stadium echoed with Ronaldo’s name.
On the pitch, Ronaldo spread his arms and ran with abandon. He had never run so effortlessly, so joyfully.
It was as if he were reborn!
In the private box, Moratti stood up and hugged Chen Yu again.
This time, the hug lasted longer. When he finally let go, the old man’s eyes were moist and his lips trembled as he repeatedly murmured, "Thank you."
Nearby, Berlusconi let out a long sigh, then also got up, walked over, and gave Chen Yu a brief hug.
"Chen, I recall that the United States recognizes dual citizenship. Have you ever considered becoming a citizen of Italy?" he asked with a completely serious expression.
"Huh?"
Chen Yu was dumbfounded, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. ’What is he even talking about?’
Tonight was destined to be a night of wild celebration.
But with Lexi around, Chen Yu didn’t dare get too carried away.
"Why are you all over the place?"
Back at the hotel, having packed her luggage, Lexi turned on the TV to kill time while they waited for their car. She found that several channels were reporting on yesterday’s match, on Ronaldo’s super hat trick, and on Chen Yu’s face.
"It’s so ugly."
Lexi pointed at the television, laughing without a care.
Chen Yu silently turned off the TV. He decided to replace the poster at the entrance of his medical center as soon as he got back.
"Let’s go!"
Half an hour later, the hotel’s front desk called to say their car had arrived.
Chen Yu called for Lexi to get going. He opened the door and found several people standing outside.
One appeared to be the hotel manager, and the others were bellhops.
A few of the bellhops enthusiastically stepped forward to take their luggage.
’When did the service suddenly get this good?’ Chen Yu wondered as he followed Lexi downstairs.
Downstairs, Moratti had arrived with Ronaldo and Cooper in a stretch Rolls-Royce.
Chen Yu turned to give the bellhop a tip, but the bellhop refused it.
"Sir, I’m an Inter fan. Thank you," the bellhop said with a smile.
The manager beside him also just smiled without saying a word. ’No doubt about it, he’s an Inter fan too,’ Chen Yu thought.
"Chen, we will always be friends." Ronaldo was a changed man from his sentimental self at the clinic, now appearing completely carefree. After hugging Chen Yu, he cheerfully saw the two of them off to the airport.
After yesterday’s match, his confidence had completely returned.
"Stay disciplined. Play steadily for the next ten years, make enough money, and you’ll have decades to enjoy life however you want," Chen Yu reminded him one last time as they parted at the airport.
Accidents are unavoidable, but disciplined training could still lower the risk of injury. In that department, Ronaldo was still lacking.
"Got it!" Ronaldo grinned, revealing that somewhat comical gap between his teeth again.
"We’re off!"
Chen Yu waved, a mix of emotions stirring within him as he disappeared through the boarding gate.
Returning from sub-10-degree Milan to scorching Phoenix, Chen Yu immediately felt much more comfortable.
During the few days he was in Milan, the Suns had played two more preseason games.
One against the Pacers, and one against the Rockets.
Hardaway was slowly getting back into form. He scored 9 points in the first game against the Lakers, 14 in the second against the Pacers, and 13 in the third against the Rockets.
His shooting percentage was just a bit off.
But it wasn’t a major issue. After all, he hadn’t played in a year and needed time to readjust.
The most important thing was that everyone was healthy.
As long as they were healthy, the future was bright.
But Chen Yu couldn’t stay idle for long.
The old-but-not-in-spirit Elder Qiao still needed to train, and McDyess had already arrived and been admitted to the clinic.
He had already been in contact with Desler, who would be arriving soon.
The clinic was about to get lively again.
At the rehabilitation center, even in the presence of stars like Baggio and Redondo, Jordan—a man Maradona himself idolized—was without a doubt the center of attention.
"Michael, I could hear you cursing me from a mile away."
Chen Yu called out, exasperated, as he walked into the rehabilitation center.
The training regimen he had designed was intense, and as soon as Jordan got tired, the habitual trash-talker would start cursing Chen Yu out with no filter.
There was no real malice in it; it was purely a way to vent his exhaustion.
And whenever that happened, Chen Yu would make sure to stare him down until he properly finished every single exercise, and then he would silently increase the intensity the next day.
"Don’t tell me what to do," Jordan grunted, veins bulging on his forehead as he did side crunches with a weight plate.
His trainer, Tim Grover, stood nearby, chuckling.
Chen Yu walked over and asked Grover if they had cut any corners on Jordan’s training plan while he was away.
"Nope," Grover said, shaking his head with a smile.
In reality, they had slightly lowered the intensity while Chen Yu was gone. Without the support of his treatments, Jordan might not have been able to take it.
"Well, since I’m back today, let’s start by bumping the intensity up by thirty percent," Chen Yu said with a smile.
To Jordan, that smile looked demonic.
"Fack, I must have been kicked in the head by a donkey to even think about a comeback," Jordan started cursing again.
Just then, Redondo, who had been training quietly nearby, walked over.
"Chen, can we talk for a minute?"
The two of them moved to the side.
"I watched Ronnie’s match. He was insane," Redondo said with a wry smile.
It was painful for him to watch his new club have four goals scored against them by Ronaldo.
’If I had been on the pitch,’ he thought, ’I would never have let Ronaldo score so easily.’
"He was pretty insane," Chen Yu agreed, shuddering as he was once again reminded of the photo on the undershirt.
Redondo said, "By the way, I wanted to talk to you about something. It’s about that friend I mentioned before, Batty."
"The player with the worn-down cartilage, right?"
Chen Yu remembered now; Redondo had mentioned him before.
"What about him?" Chen Yu asked. After their initial conversation, Batty had never come over.
’The offseason is already over, so why bring him up again all of a sudden?’
Redondo sighed. "Sometimes, I really feel like he has a masochistic streak in his personality, as if he thinks pain is his source of strength. He’s the War God, and he believes a War God must endure suffering to achieve true greatness."
"So, when I told him about your treatment, he wasn’t interested. He even questioned your ability, thinking that if doctors all over the world couldn’t fix him, how could you possibly succeed."
"But after Ronnie’s match, he contacted me. I think he finally understands that miracles can still happen in this world."
Redondo played with elegance, and he spoke with it too. He said with a warm smile, "Chen, he has already discussed it with his club and is willing to sit out the season to come to the United States for your treatment. Would you be able to take him?"
’Cartilage reconstruction would take four to six months anyway, so the season would definitely be a write-off.’
’And it’s for next year’s World Cup. Barring any surprises, it should be Batty’s last World Cup, just like it is for me.’
’This War God, who has never bowed to fate, wants one last fight.’
"Then have him come," Chen Yu said, patting Redondo’s shoulder.
’That was a silly question. It’s not like I’d ever turn away a patient who came to my door for help.’

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