The sky was beginning to lighten as the plane roared and climbed into the clouds.
Only now did Chen Yu have a moment to ask Brian how the talks with Li Yaoming and the others went yesterday.
He had returned first yesterday and, as expected, had been dragged out for two meals by Yao Songping.
He’d had a bit to drink and, seeing that Brian still wasn’t back, decided to go to bed.
They had rushed to the airport early in the morning and hadn’t had a chance for a deep conversation, so this was their first real opportunity.
Brian was rubbing his temples, looking like he was still hungover. He had never had baijiu before and hadn’t realized how potent it was. He’d accidentally had too much and his head was still pounding.
"It went okay." Brian lay back and thought for a moment before speaking. "Their attitude was surprisingly good. They didn’t make exorbitant demands like they did with the Wizards last year. There was no mention of a buyout fee, asking for players, or even money to build a stadium."
Of course, even if Li Yaoming and his group had made such unreasonable demands, Brian would never have accepted them.
At this, Brian suddenly turned his head to stare intently at Chen Yu.
"What are you looking at me for?" Chen Yu leaned back slightly.
Brian smiled. "Chen, I have a feeling they were so agreeable all because of you."
’Me?’
Chen Yu froze, not quite understanding.
Brian said, "Do you know what their one request was? They want to send two trainers to Phoenix to learn our daily training methods. They also hope we can help them establish a training regimen identical to ours—you know, with all that equipment you use."
"You’re the one who told them about all this, aren’t you?"
Yesterday’s meeting was smoother than he could have ever imagined. The Eastern Team didn’t impose any harsh conditions. Their only request was to learn advanced training methods from the Suns.
Brian had figured it out right then and there. It had to be because of Chen Yu. They must have seen how effective the training methods he introduced were, which led them to make such a request.
And for the Phoenix Suns, a condition like that was nothing at all.
’You want to learn our training methods? Send people over? Fine by us, come on over. There’s nothing we can’t teach.’
As for the scientific training regimen, the Suns would just have to teach the Eastern Team how to use it. When it came to actually buying the equipment, the Suns wouldn’t be footing the bill.
If the Wizards had been offered terms like these last year, they would have been ecstatic.
"By the way, Chen," Brian suddenly changed his tone, bringing up the team doctor’s contract. "This season will be over before we know it. Should we go ahead and sign next season’s contract in advance? Maybe for a few more years? As for the salary, I’ll talk it over with my dad. How does five hundred thousand a season sound?"
Chen Yu looked at Brian, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
’What does he mean, "the season will be over soon"? We’re not even halfway through yet.’
’Players get early contract extensions, sure, but team doctors, too?’
’Is he really that scared I’m going to leave?’
"I’m going to sleep."
Chen Yu waved a dismissive hand and closed his eyes.
’I’ve been gone for days. Who knows how much work will be piled up when I get back.’
He had no idea how Trapattoni had managed it, but it was frighteningly fast. By the time Chen Yu returned to Phoenix, the first group of players had already arrived.
The iron gate was open.
Chen Yu pushed the door open and walked in. Batty’s wife, Irina, was tending to her flowers.
Seeing Chen Yu, Irina smiled, stood up to greet him, then gestured behind her, indicating that the others were inside.
"Oh, right. I brought you a gift back from China." Chen Yu held up the gift box in his hand.
He had brought back a whole suitcase full of gifts from China, with something for just about everyone. Naturally, he had prepared one for Batty, his VIP patient.
"Thank you! Oh, is China beautiful? I’ve never been," Irina said, accepting the gift with a delighted smile and asking curiously about the country.
"Well..." Chen Yu thought for a moment. "The food is amazing, that’s for sure."
He’d spent the entire three days just eating, with no time for sightseeing.
It was the same for Brian. His schedule had been so rushed that he went to the Capital but didn’t even get to climb the Great Wall.
After a brief chat, Chen Yu walked into the living room.
In the spacious living room, three men were gathered on the sofa, watching a soccer match on the television.
Batty spotted Chen Yu and immediately greeted him, though he couldn’t move because his leg was in a brace.
The other two men quickly got to their feet.
One had a full head of hair; that must be Filippo Inzaghi.
The other also had thick hair, but his features were more chiseled. It was none other than the captain of the Italian National Team, Paolo Maldini.
Both played for AC Milan and were in the same league as Batty, so they were familiar faces. They had arrived yesterday and were already deep in conversation with Batty today.
If Baggio were still around, they’d probably have even more to talk about, having been teammates before.
After some brief pleasantries, Chen Yu motioned for the two men to sit. As he engaged in small talk, he silently scanned their conditions with the Eye of All-Seeing.
’Their conditions are actually pretty good.’
Chen Yu had met Berlusconi before, and the man had sought him out for Redondo’s injury. If Inzaghi’s and Maldini’s conditions were severe, they certainly would have been sent to him sooner.
The fact that they hadn’t been sent for treatment earlier could only mean their injuries weren’t that serious.
Inzaghi had a grade-two tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. Luckily, it wasn’t a complete rupture, and he had already undergone ligament repair surgery.
However, the procedure hadn’t involved directly suturing the ligament. Instead, it had been pulled taut and secured with suture anchors.
This method of repair offers greater strength, but it’s also more damaging to the body because it requires drilling for the anchors.
After it healed, the removal of the anchors would also have to be considered.
In fact, this was the standard procedure for ACL surgery.
The ACL is located within the joint capsule, immersed in synovial fluid, which makes natural healing difficult. Simply suturing a tear offers almost no guarantee of restoring sufficient strength.
Only someone like Chen Yu, with his system, would dare to perform the surgery with a direct suture.
Inzaghi’s ligament had already formed scar tissue, but that was it. A closer look would reveal the torn fibers tangled together haphazardly; its resulting strength was easy to imagine.
Many players who underwent this type of surgery suffered a severe decline in their athletic ability and never returned to their peak form.
As for Maldini, his situation was similar to Inzaghi’s—a cruciate ligament injury, only in his left knee.
But his tear was much less severe, not even a grade two. AC Milan hadn’t contacted him about it, and he probably would have been fine just letting it heal normally.
’But since he’s come all this way, applying some therapeutic effects will definitely lead to a better recovery.’
"Chen, when can we begin treatment?" After the small talk, Maldini asked, a bit impatiently. He’d been injured for a month, and since it wasn’t severe, he felt his recovery was going fine. To be honest, he hadn’t wanted to come at all.
Even with Redondo’s return, AC Milan was plagued with injuries, and he would have preferred to stay and help his team fight for the title.
But with both the club and Trapattoni insisting, Maldini had no choice but to comply.
Of course, it wasn’t that he distrusted Chen Yu’s medical skills.
Never mind Ronaldo; Redondo’s case was right in front of him. His performance after returning didn’t seem like that of a player who had suffered a devastating cruciate ligament rupture.
"No rush. Let’s wait until after the next couple of days," Chen Yu said.
"Today is the 8th, so the All-Star Game has basically begun. Tomorrow, I have to head to Philadelphia. Just like last year, I’ll be participating in the first team practice before the main game as the doctor for the West."
"So I definitely won’t have time these next two days. I just came by today to meet you all. I have two surgeries scheduled for later today; the patients have been waiting a long time, so I can’t put them off any longer."
"Don’t worry. Your rehabilitation will be a long process, so there’s no need to rush. Since you’re here, just relax and settle in," Chen Yu said, knowing what was on their minds.
Batty nodded in agreement. "Exactly. You can get anything you need here. You two just focus on your recovery and stop worrying about the club’s business."
The two men glanced at each other and had no choice but to nod.
After chatting a while longer, Chen Yu got up to leave for his surgeries.
The first surgery was also for a ruptured cruciate ligament.
The patient was an outfielder for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball’s American League West, who had unfortunately been injured during practice.
In the operating room, his assistant was William, as usual.
It was another minimally invasive procedure. Chen Yu skillfully held the instruments, debriding the edges of the ruptured ligament before suturing them together.
As he’d thought before, for a regular patient, Chen Yu would have chosen the suture anchor repair method. It was more stable and would restore enough function for a normal daily life even without applying his therapeutic effects.
But this was a professional athlete. For them, Chen Yu would always choose direct suturing and apply his therapeutic effects.
More than two hours later, Chen Yu stopped his work.
Just as he was about to hand over the closing procedures to William, a system notification suddenly appeared in his mind.
’Leveled up!’
His Ligament Repair Technique had finally reached the Middle Level.
For a moment, Chen Yu felt the urge to cry with joy.
’This wasn’t easy.’
Just like with his massage and Acupuncture skills, he had no idea how many ligaments he’d repaired over the past two years to finally achieve this upgrade.
He glanced at the system. As expected, upon reaching the Middle Level, the therapeutic effect had increased to 15 percent.
’From now on, using a single Gold Level boost will be almost as effective as a Diamond Level one.’
Even now, getting a Diamond Level therapeutic effect wasn’t easy.
In his excellent mood, Chen Yu decided not to slack off and finished the closing procedures himself.
After completing one more surgery for a comminuted fracture, Chen Yu went home early to pack. The next day, he and Hardaway departed for Philadelphia.
J Kidd had unfortunately withdrawn from this year’s All-Star Game due to injury.
He didn’t mind much. Even if he had gone, he would’ve just been a role player. It’s not like he was going to compete for the All-Star Game MVP.
So, Hardaway was the only one selected from the Suns.
Hardaway was already a big name, and so far this season—especially during J Kidd’s absence—he had carried the team on his own. His scoring numbers had risen again, now at 24.4 points per game, placing him seventh on the league’s scoring list. His selection as a starter for the West was truly well-deserved.
However, for this year’s All-Star Game, all eyes were naturally on the East.
Because of Jordan.
The starting lineup for the East was led by Iverson, Jordan, Hill, Anthony Walker, and Mutombo.
This season, Tracy McGrady, averaging 21.6 points per game, had a real shot at a starting spot. But unfortunately for him, Jordan had returned, and there was no way Stern would let Jordan come off the bench.
He couldn’t really complain. Even Hill had nearly lost his starting spot.
In the Eastern Conference voting, Carter was the top vote-getter, with Hill trailing him by a mere 70,000 votes.
Add to that the fact that Jordan was guaranteed a starting spot. When even a beloved figure like Hill almost lost his starting position, McGrady really had no reason to feel hard done by.
It was just a shame for Carter. On the very last game day before All-Star Weekend, during the game between the Raptors and the Spurs, he had accidentally strained his left quadriceps on a layup. The incident had been reported to the league, so Chen Yu was aware of it.
Since it was a common strain, the Raptors’ diagnosis was two weeks of rest.
The diagnosis was sound, but to get injured right on the eve of All-Star Weekend was just rotten luck.
As a result, his starting spot for the East was filled by Hill.
As for the West, it was the usual familiar faces. The starters were Hardaway, Kobe, Garnett, Duncan, and O’Neal—nearly identical to last year.

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